ChetOS.net

I just downloaded the final version of Internet Explorer 8.  This is a great improvement over IE7, and worlds away from IE6.  It is nearly as standards compliant as Firefox, and even passes the Acid2 test.

Hopefully some of the strange rendering bugs that I have seen in Beta 2 are completely gone (such as the text being cut off in mid-page, actually through words).  I don't think I saw any of that in RC2.

Also, I am glad my GIS sites (like Levy PA's) work without modification.

AIG paid out something like $165 million in bonuses.  They received $85 billion loan.  I think the $165 million is small change compared to the whole package.

And... the government gave AIG that money so they could carry out their business.  Guess what, paying its employees is part of carrying out their business.

On top of that, they specifically added text to the stimulus package saying that any contracts in place before Feb 20, 2009, were to be upheld.  Although, I did the research and found out it wasn't Dodd who put it there (on page S1609-S1610).

Anyway, I call this a red herring because while everyone is up in arms about $165 million in bonuses, we are not watching while the other $85 billion gets blown.

You have got to check out a new Google Labs project called "In Quotes".  This lets you search for certain terms that someone said.  For example, I can type "earmarks" into the search box, and that term is added to the list.  I can press the down button to go back and see what he has said.

Here is a good one: Obama saying that there will be no earmarks in the stimulus package, just before his inaugaration.

"The package will set a 'new higher standard of accountability, transparency and oversight. We are going to ban all earmarks, the process by which individual members insert projects without review,' Obama said. 'We're not having earmarks in the recovery package. Period.'"

This is from http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2009/01/06/congress-convenes-confront-economic-crisis-obama-response/

And for those of you who think that they weren't earmarks (call them something else), Obama himself admits that there were earmarks in it at: http://content.usatoday.com/communities/theoval/post/2009/03/63934377/1

Anyway, this is a great tool to quickly find what someone has said on a subject.

Oh, you can also filter by year.  So I can see what he said during 2008 only, and here is a good quote: "Earmarks have 'been an issue for a while now,' Obama said in an interview. 'But, obviously, we're entering into a political season, which means that they're going to get amplified. I don't think there's anything wrong with the concept of earmarks if they are transparent and above board.' But, he added, a one-year moratorium to review the earmarking process would generate 'confidence that taxpayer money is being well spent.'" (source: Washington Post in March 2008)